The air was hot and humid, the scent of every type were floating in the damp air, taking in a deep breath Mike Blade-Xiang and her manservant Lance Knightly, make their way towards the port. She tugs her canvas bag further up on her shoulder; she didn’t want to lose the contents of the bag since they were the most important things to her and her profession. Basically it was several different IDent cards, and codes needed to access certain accounts off planet and an access device to connect to the Cortex.

She looks about the gathering crowd in the port of Persephone, silently searching the crowd for Alliance cronies and a getaway plan if needed, Mike sighs slightly after scoping out the situation. If she hadn’t pulled the job that killed her birth parents, “I would be in this mess.” She darkly mutters to herself, while throwing a dangerous glare at Lance. This mess, as Mike was affectionately referring to, was the one that had caused her to flee her home on Ariel as well as the Alliance and her trying to find herself a way farther into the Black than the Alliance was willing to go.

“Gorram, Lance where the hell are we headin’?” Lance looks over at his former charge, and smiles weakly, as if he almost regretted what he was about to tell her. “I am not going with you; you are going ahead without me.” Mike stops in mid step and is nearly run over by a cart filled with chickens.

“Pardon? You’d better be kiddin’ with me, Lance.” Lance doesn’t answer the question, instead he points to one of the ships in the distance. “I believe if you catch a ride on that one, you’ll end up somewhere out of Alliance’s roaming eyes.” Mike wasn’t having any of this, and she grabs him by his collar and hulls him up in the air, close to the barely contained look on her face. “Gorram Lance, you ain’t leavin’ me, I ain’t the type of person ta do that.” Mike had already slipped into the role of a traveler, complete with an accent to throw anyone talking to her off her trail.

“Listen to me, girl. They’re looking for two travelers, a man and a woman, in other words, you’re going at it alone.” Lance struggles against Mike’s death grip but after a few moments she releases him and sighs regretfully. “Gorram Lance, I hate it when you are right. I really do. And since you’re always right, I always hate it.”

The manservant watches his mistress for a moment, and then digs into the bag he’s holding. “Here, since we are parting company, I thought I’d get you a going away gift.” Lance hands Mike a small package; she eyes it quizzically before opening it. She lets loose a short burst of laughter, “Just what I always wanted.” Inside the package was a new IDent card as well as the information needed to get access to some of her lesser known accounts.

“Head that way and you’ll get off the planet in time.” Lance give Mike a shy look, “I didn’t bother to ask where they were going when I booked you passage onboard, but they said that they were heading further out to the Rim. So…” Mike nods and pats him on the shoulder, “Thank you, you always did find a way to look out for me even when I didn’t need it.” Lance nods and gently nudges Mike in the direction of the ship, he’d pointed out.

“You’d better get going, they’re taking out shortly. And you need to be on that spaceship before the Alliance catches wind of, understand?” Mike nods at Lance and puts her package from Lance into her canvas bag and heads in the generally direction he’d pointed out for her.

With barely a glance back, Mike walks completely torn away from the life that was hers and into something completely different. A new life out in the Black, at least until she was no longer wanted by the Alliance for the murder of her birth parents. “If I hadn’t done that, I’d be curled up in my bed asleep.” While reminiscing on past life, the assassin ruefully makes her way towards the ship that would transport her to a new place, and a new life.
Unknown "My Anime Hottie " Feisty - 16 years, 7 months, 18 days ago

It had been two weeks since he'd been shipped out to the Border Planets, three gorram weeks since he'd talked to his parents about his twin and almost fours weeks since he'd learned that he had a shiao mei-mei. Curian was laying in his bunk on the Alliance ship he was currently stationed on, he was wondering about how his life had changed so quickly in a matter of weeks.

Sitting up from his bunk, the trooper sighs regretfully about his current situation. "Don't have time of this gorram ruttin' problem." He gets off of the bed and prepares for the long day ahead. He grins darkly to himself as he pulls on his uniform shirt. "Time to break in some new blood." Curian had been reassigned to a new squad once he'd arrived aboard and some of the squad was still considered to be rookies.

As he steps out of his quarters, Curian nearly walks into the Commander. He momentarily backpedals into his quarters and gives the Commander a quick salute. "Sir, is there a problem, sir?" The Commander remains quiet for several minutes before replying, "Lieutenant Keither, I've recently heard talk about a Bounty Hunter with same last name as you. I'm curious if it just happens to just be talk about the new Lieutenant or if there is some truth behind it."

Gorram, Curian silently thinks to himself, "Sir, it is the truth, sir. I can honestly say that I've never met my shiao mei-mei." The commander nods his head thoughful, it was almost as if he'd expected such an answer. The commander then looks at Curian with a hardened stare, "Then I take it that you would have an issue with going after the Bounty Hunter then?"

Curian doesn't even think about the answer, he just give it without a second glance. "Sir, no sir." The commander nods and hands him a note, "Get your men ready then, we rendezvous with the ship she's on in an hour. I trust you'll be ready?" Curian nods his head, "Sir, yes sir. We'll be ready, sir."

With that said and done the commander exits the room, leaving Curian with the note still clutched in his hands. He frowns at it, before opening it up to read it. He barely got past the first paragragh when he crumples up the letter and throws it angrily at the wall. Curian rushes out of his quarters, heading towards the training bay. He had men to get suited up, and people to arrest in the name of the Alliance. Just you wait shiao mei-mei, our first meeting won't be a pretty one.
Unknown "My Anime Hottie " Feisty - 16 years, 7 months, 18 days ago

It was dark in the basement of Neutral Ground, a rather successful nightclub geared towards the recent and seemingly endless influx of Elder Races. Vampires, Lycans, Felines and even Hunters and Slayers were slowly making their way from the Old Country over to the New World. There were rumors of other creatures as well, the less talked about ones that many believed were still myths and legends of old.

The darkness was suffocating as it seemed, at least not to the woman that was currently occupying the large and empty space. There was nothing down here anymore, nothing but bare walls and a barren stone cold floor was clutter free.

The basement space wasn't as bare as most were under the impression; the room contained one distinct object. It was also the room's only source of light, especially after the lights that had once been down here was nothing but exposed and fried areas of wire and metal.

The light source wasn't a normal one; it was a swirling dark and light mass that was constantly in motion. It never seemed to stop, always swirling in one direction and then another, never stopping its motions. It was hypnotic and soothing to watch, and so hard to resist the urge to reach out and brush the mass of swirling gas, light and darkness.

The urge to reach out and see what was on the other side was one that even the owner of Neutral Ground was finding hard to resist at this moment. An urge that had at several points presented to be a problem since the mass had first appeared in the basement of the club.

The basement of Neutral Ground had at one point doubled as a storage area for the nightclub's liquor supply and as a place for anyone to fight someone else. It was a good place to make a bet or two, also a good place to win or lose some hard earned money. That was before this thing appeared one night during a particularly long winded fight between a Lycan and a Vampire. It was a fight that the Lycan was starting to lose when the massive thing appeared in the middle of the fighting ring and sucked it and its occupants into its dark depths.

Of course panic ensured, sending the mass of people watching the fight into the alleyways that surrounded the nightclub. The panic emptied the room in a matter of moments, a feat that usually took almost an hour to do on even the slowest of fight nights.

What the fleeing people never saw but the owner of Neutral Ground did, was the swirling black and white mass suck everything nearby it into it, frying the building's basement wiring and sucking up the nightclub's entire liquor stores deep into it gas mass.

She watched as the swirling mass changed direction and spewed the smoky oozing body masses that had once been the fighters in the ring back into the basement. It was that moment, that she decided quite quickly that things had to change for her nightclub and she did change it.

She closed off the basement to everyone but herself, allowing no one to pass through the doors that once never stopped being shut for any reason at the constant influx of people coming and going.

She, the owner of Neutral Ground was like many of her patrons, one of the Elder Races of Earth. She was a Lycan, not just any Lycan but the local Lycan Alpha from Wolfe Estates located further out in the state of New York. Her name was Mike Carmichaelis, one of the oldest Lycan currently living in New York, and the one in charge several Lycans that happened to live in her home.

And now she was in charge of this swirling, twisting black and white mass of light and darkness that had for some reason decided to take root in her club's basement. It was a surprisingly hard task that seemed to weigh her down even more than usual.

Today, Mike had gone out of her way and requested the presence of a high level Mage to come to her club and investigate the mass she was staring blankly, unseeing into the swirling pattern.

The mage had confirmed what she'd already started coming to the conclusion of. The swirling mass was a portal, to
Unknown "My Anime Hottie " Feisty - 16 years, 7 months, 18 days ago

She was standing in the hallway of her lover's apartment, looking at the warm and cozy feeling it had to it. While to some, Jean Grey couldn't be considered warm and cozy, to Emma she was able to see the lighter side of Jean's personality. The detective's apartment looked lived in, which wasn't the case due to Jean's job.

Walking into the living room/kitchen area of the apartment, Emma glances about the room. Nothing had changed since she'd been here last which meant one thing.

Jean's had company over. It was never surprising to see that Jean had been with someone else while she was away, it wasn't like they were mutally exclusive or anything.

Speak of the devil, Jean was home. *Hello, sweetheart.* Emma sent as Jean fiddles with the door, who mentally grumbles back as she opens the door. Emma could tell Jean had a bad day, hopefully she could help with turning her mood around.

Emma had been away on business for the last few weeks, and wasn't supposed to return until later this week. The businesswoman had, had enough of her employee foolish mistakes. So, she'd fired the man, got someone compenate to do his job and returned to New York.

Of course, Emma just had to see Jean. It was the first thing did after hitting JFK airport this evening. She'd even forgo the trip to her apartment to see the Mutant detective.

"Bad day, hun?"

"It usually is when dealing with idiots." Jean states as she shrugs off her leather jacket and hangs it up, all the while Jean notices Emma watching from the living room. Jean walks the short distance to Emma, and wraps her arms around the taller woman's waist.

It felt good to be home after her run in with Kindred and finding out the face and name to her father's cold case. It was bad day but at the same time good, she'd gotten what she wanted and more. And now to be home to a beautiful blonde, alone in her apartment was a godsend for lifting dark moods.

*Hi babe.* Jean mentally sighs into Emma's mind, happily making herself comfortable into the blonde's mental presence.

Emma shakes her head at Jean, a slight but soft smile on her face. "Hello yourself." Normally, if someone other Jean had called her babe, she would have mindwiped them and been done with them. But with Jean, it wasn't. To Jean, calling Emma babe was a term of endearment. It was cute, it was completely and totally what Jean was.

Leaning into Jean, Emma huskily whispers, "Do you know what a bad day calls for?" Jean shakes her head, "A good evening." Emma simply states before capturing Jean's lips in a long and passionate kiss.

After several moments, Emma gently pulls way. Her teeth gently pulling on Jean's bottom lip, as she allows space to replace her against Jean. "Missed you, Red." Emma smirks slightly at the glazed look on Jean's face. It was cute to see the big, bad detective melt for her. Especially since Jean was the firey one in this relationship, and she was the stone cold bitch.

Emma wraps her arms around Jean's neck and leans down to nuzzles the soft tissue located near her pulse point. The blonde telepath smiles against the detective's neck, knowing full well the reaction she'd get to such a small act.

"Babe, you've really got to stop doing that to me." Jean say in a slightly hazy state, trying to rapidly recover from Emma's impromtu kiss. Not that the detective minded being kissed by the blonde telepath, it just always surprised her when Emma did.

When Emma nuzzles the pulse point in her neck, Jean can't fight the full body shudder that starts from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. "Damn you, for knowing me so well." Jean mock growls at the businesswoman, before tugging the woman out of the living room into the bedroom.

Out of the entire apartment, Jean's bedroom was the most lived in. The room was filled with warm colors of red, orange and yellow; Jean suspected that the color scheme was Phoenix Force induced.

Making her way to the bed, Jean si
Unknown "My Anime Hottie " Feisty - 16 years, 7 months, 18 days ago

A heavy storm of rain had fallen earlier in the evening, drenching everything and everyone in that had gotten caught in the downpour. The passing storm and the fallen rain were dampening the scents and various smells of Bayville’s lesser-traveled alleyways. The echoing rumbles of distant thunderclap still thundered overhead, causing the odd sleeping body to jump and jerk subconsciously at the sound. It was this jumping and jerking of several bodies pressed against her that forced Mike Blade-Xiang to stay awake, with a watchful eye over her self-imposed charges.

The cool pale shine of the moon peers into the barely boarded up windows of the upper levels of the warehouse, slowly creeping through the sky and moving along the slumbering bodies on the building's floor. The sun's reflected light glances off of Mike's face, causing her to cringe slightly at the light.

"How long had it been since Life was no longer a mass of confusion moving ever forward?" Mike silently, ever mindful of the dozen or so sleeping forms that slept around her. Since the first day that she'd chosen to live here with these kids, she'd always had the weaker ones either following her or seeking her protection. Tonight hadn't been any different, except maybe a new face or two added to the slowly growing number of kids.

Honestly, Mike wasn't sure. Her life was always a jumbled mess. From the start at age seven right up to this very moment. Her life was overshadowed by her genetic differences, either by her being a mutant or the fact that she was small portion of the world's population that was a chimera. A woman born with two genetic codes imprinted in her DNA, hers and her dead and absorbed twin. It was difficult to deal with and that wasn't the end of it, she had a demonic, bestial entity inside her head. Ress, the being that was her mind and soul but a more primal and blood thirstier version. It was freaky some days to wake up and see yourself but wonder when that murderous look entered your gaze. Or when the dark, sobering thoughts that aren't your own started creeping into her head at the odd and most inopportune moments.

It was hard for Mike to deal with but she was dealing with it, in the only way she could. She would use her talents and curse to protect these kids and make sure that no one messed with what was hers. This was something both Mike and Ress agreed on, they enjoyed protecting others, even if Ress was willing to step over the line to do it. For the moment, she was protecting the sleeping place of her charges while they slept. This was hard to do at time because of her healing factor's need to shutdown her body on the seventh day of activity for a period of twenty-four hours, this left her kids unprotected for an entire day. She was starting to figure out a way for her to be able to tend her waking hours by sleeping or resting for four hours day. It wasn't working very well, it was only cutting her coma period by a few minutes. At least she was trying.

Perking up slightly at the rustling sound not far from her left, Mike sniffs the air and huffs in disgust at the whiff of rodent. The only problem with residing in the warehouse with the kids was the rats. She hated rats but at least here in Bayville, they were normal size and not the small dog version from New York. Mike swallows the quaking shiver at the thought of her first encounter with an overgrown rodent.

Leaning back against the wall she'd propped herself up against, Mike casts a roaming eye over her group and nods at the sight of a dozen bodies laying intertwined on the floor of the warehouse. A twinge of aching need surges through her, she missed this. She missed protecting, she missed guarding others. With a quiet "Sleep well." Mike leans against the wall, her head resting heavily against it and she sighs a full body, soul cleansing sigh and forces her body to rest for a few hours until her charges awaken.

The cool pale shine of the moon peers into the barely boarded up windows of the upper levels of the wareho
Unknown "My Anime Hottie " Feisty - 16 years, 7 months, 18 days ago